A letter to my cat

Dear Kiki,

I am so sorry.



I tried so desperately to find you.



I called your name for hours the night I discovered you were gone.



And now I know that all the time I was calling, you were very far away.



You had already died.



Some kind stranger pulled your little body to the side of the road



So that the humane society could pick you up



And he called the number on your collar



Only to have no one answer.



And almost four weeks later, I found out.



I never gave up hoping that you would come home.



And I cried and cried after that kind man told me what happened.



I am so sorry Kiki.



At least I know now



And I won't worry about if you are being fed and taken care of



Because I know you will be



Love, "mama"

I'm still here...

...just slowly getting back to a reasonable speed of life....





...the breakneck one is just not working for me...





...but of course you probably figured that...

coconuts

We went to Boise last weekend for my birthday and went to a Brazilian grill for dinner on Saturday. It was quite the dining experience, and that was before Scotland decided to pluck a whole coconut off the top of the salad bar.

Me: That is not for you to eat! It is on display!

He poked a straw into the "soft eye" of the coconut and took a sip. He convinced John to have some too. After draining the first coconut, he went to fetch a second one. My father was embarrassed, the waiters were laughing, I was amused.

He instructed John on how to effectively insert a straw into the coconut to drink from it. The coconut got passed all the way around the table, each of us sampling a sip (ew, from the same straw!) and then handing it on.

The waitress that was offering us dessert giggled at his audacious behavior. He pulled out the Kentucky drawl and charmed her into a conversation about coconuts. She laughed and said she didn't know how long they had been on display up there, but figured since it was on the salad bar, it must be up for grabs.

He asked the waiter if he could have a bag to take them home. When the waiter came back with a small grocery sack, he asked why it was empty and if the waiter could throw one more coconut in there "for the road!" The waiter, with a grin on his face, came back with the requested item. All three coconuts went into the bag, to the consternation of my father.

Dad: (to the waitress) Just go ahead and add the cost of those coconuts, all three of them, onto the bill...

And later, as we were about to head for home, he pulled out one of the empty coconuts, cracked it open on a cement curb in the parking lot we were in, and handed out pieces of it to each of us. He then got another straw and without hesitation stuck it into the third coconut and drank it as we went down the road.

He puts the "nut" in coconut... *chuckle*

(You knew that was coming, don't even pretend you didn't!)

The antiquities

Next weekend I am going down to my parents house to finish the sorting and dividing of my grandmother's things. Although I am hesitant about the process (ie; it has been stored in the garage for a year, it will be quite a process to clean them all up!) and the subsequent placement of such items in my home, (ie; where will I put all of it!) I am very pleased to think of seeing and handling grandma's precious things. It always makes me a bit misty eyed when I see the things that remind me of her the most, her antiques.

~

Just the other day I was talking with dad about why I want some of her antiques. I explained to him that I am not interested in buying antiques from dealers or ebay or whatever. I will not be scouring garage sales for the oldest, most valuable items I can find. I don't collect antiques as a whole, I only collect Grandma's antiques. Grandma's antiques are far more valuable to me than any steal of a deal one could find on ebay. Grandma's antiques have a history, some are short (she bought it at a garage sale) some are longer (her mother/grandmother used it when she was a child) some are historical (the newspaper detailing what was going on the day she was born) some are familial (the dish she received for her wedding) but whatever the story is, it is important to me because it was hers, not because it could be valuable to another individual. Essentially, I am bringing home a memory of my grandmother, no matter what the size, type or age each piece is. They will never be sold or given away. They will be mine until I am unable to keep them any longer. They will be a little piece of her that I can see, a little piece that reminds me of her, a little piece of her story, her legacy and the memories that I have of her.

~

When people ask what I collect, I tell them antiques. What I don't tell them is that I only collect antiques that belonged to her.

Snow White

Along with various other sundries, Grandma's Playhouse came with a variety of bird feeders that hang on a rack in the back yard. The other day as I was out enjoying my fluffy green lawn, I was admiring them for their individuality. When we moved in, I considered removing them from the property, because of course my goal with that house is to make it as non grandma-ey as possible, but for some reason I decided that they can stay for the time being.

~

I secretly hope that one day I will turn into a cartoon Snow White and have little birds landing on my gracefully outstretched hand as fluffy gray bunnies and curious squirrels bounce at my feet. Unfortunately reality prevails as I stand in my backyard, where instead of wearing a blue, red and yellow dress, I am dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with the birds and squirrels keeping their distance from me with wary eyes. *Sigh* And despite my most desperate attempts, these bird feeders remain an unused decoration rather than a tempting treat for feathered friends.

~

I suppose my backyard is not as tempting as I once thought it was. Even my cat has deserted me for greener pastures (or more likely, someone that doesn't go away for the weekend so he feels abandoned) and so my backyard remains a desolate place that is uninhabited with creatures of any kind rather than the oasis that I had once hoped it would be...

~

Although my cat and various other animals no longer feel the need to remain by my side, I am comforted by the fact that, unlike Snow White, I only have one man to clean up after, while she had seven, all with various infirmities; sneezy, grumpy, sleepy, dopey, etc. I would take that over the critters any day. Why anyone would refer to her as a "princess" I will never know, that doesn't seem like a princess life to me...

Except of course my cat, whom I miss dearly...